Mike Malone had however warned his players. ” If you think Max Strus will still make 0/9 or Duncan Robinson will still make 1/5, you are wrong. “said the Nuggets coach before Game 2.
From the second possession of this second meeting of the Finals, Max Strus proved him right by planting a first award-winning basket for the Heat.
The Spark Max Strus
A successful shot in the form of relief for the shooter who had just delivered a zero point (0 point to 0/10 in shooting), three days earlier. This release allowed him to follow up with three additional award-winning baskets in the same quarter, before no longer finding the target thereafter (14 points at 4/10 on shots, all at 3-pointers).
“ The fact that Max started like that was huge. And to be honest, we expected it. We know what a great shooter he is. When he made his shots early in the game, I think that reassured everyone “, Judge Duncan Robinson, according to whom the address of his teammate made it possible to unblock the others.
In the previous match, the Floridians had settled for 33% of address (13/39) behind the 3-point line. Last night, Max Strus and his team signed a much better 17/35 (49%).
” I like to see Max, Gabe (Vincent, 4/6 from a distance), duncan (2/3) and Caleb (Martin, 1/2), all those guys who get involved and shoot with confidence. It was wonderful to see. Getting off to a good start and getting off to a steady and smooth start was good for us. […] We needed all of these contributions “, Appreciates Kevin Love, who also planted twice from afar (2/6).
In the four wins, Miami has shot 54-125 (43%) on 3s and opponents have shot 39-142 (28%). They also had a big 3-point edge in the Game 6 loss vs. Boston. The other loss was Game 1 of the Finals.https://t.co/34zCDZRgSi
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) June 5, 2023
Defend on the line at … 4-point
Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra sees in it the sign of a team that gives itself ” the best chance. Let the ball go where it needs to go and everyone understands what we’re trying to accomplish. Then you have to trust. You have to trust yourself. We obtained good things by cutting the circle, with the ‘extra-pass’, the circulation of the ball which made it possible to generate open shots. Yes, it’s always better if the ball goes in. »
In the camp opposite, we see rather the result of a lack of discipline.
“ They punished us on all our miscommunications. And there were mistakes! Communication problems, lack of rigor on our game plan, oversights on how we had to defend certain players… […] All of them, one must know exactly where they are, at all times. If you defend on them, you have to take them to the 4-point line! », demanded outright Mike Malone.
For the latter, ” the 3-point line was a major concern. (The Heat is) the best 3-point team in these playoffs (note: with 39.2% success, just ahead of the Nuggets with 38.2%). According to the numbers, we were okay in the first game, but tonight they buried us. »
